Children: Gift and Model

April 19, 2026 Background Scripture: Matthew 18:1 - 6; Mark 9:36 - 37, 42; 10:13 - 16; Luke 2:1 -20 Lesson Passage: Mark 9:36 - 37, 42; 10:13 - 16 Today's lesson is a reminder that leaders considered Jesus to be a very controversial person during the three years of His ministry in this world. His behavior went against what many considered the social norms at that time. One such behavior was how He related to children in public settings. He used little children as object lessons to teach His disciples about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, Jesus used a child as an example of what it means to be great in the kingdom of God. After His disciples argued about which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, Jesus used a little child to explain how far they were from being great. That little child was the model of what greatness in the kingdom of God looks like. Jesus told them that receiving a little child in His name is equivalent to receiving Him and the Father who sent Him. The bible doesn't disclose what His disciples considered as greatness. Perhaps they were arguing about their masculinity, or machismo, as evidence of their greatness; because Jesus used the humility and submission of a little child as evidence of greatness in the kingdom of God. A little child who was expected to be kept out of an adult conversation was brought into the conversation as a role model for the adults. Jesus also warned them that causing a little child who believed in Him to go astray would lead to grave consequences for the person who does it. At times, it seems that Jesus identified with little children more than He identified with the adults around Him. It should not be surprising that Jesus expressed a special affinity for little children. Jesus understood what it was like to be a little child. Jesus did not descend from heaven as an adult. Jesus was born into this world as a baby. Jesus was born into this world as a gift to mankind from God. He matured in this world into adulthood. His life embodied the perfect image and likeness of God. Jesus' life was a model of what God expects of mankind. Jesus' teaching reflected the perfect will of God rather than reinforce the acceptable social norms of the day. The contrast between Jesus' teaching and social norms was clearly seen in terms of how Jesus related to little children. Again, the social norm was for children to be kept away from adults who were conversing among themselves. Therefore, when people attempted to bring little children to Jesus for Him to lay His hand on them and impart a blessing to them, Jesus' disciples rebuked the adults for bringing children to Jesus. Apparently, the disciples did not learn what Jesus taught them previously about receiving little children. Jesus expressed His displeasure with His disciples and rebuked them. They had forgotten the lesson about little children being their role models of greatness in the kingdom of God. On this occasion, Jesus talked about little children being the embodiment of citizens of the kingdom of God. Hence, the little children should be brought to Jesus that He may bless them. Furthermore, Jesus emphasized that His disciples, and others, needed to know that adults who desire to enter the kingdom of God must first become as little children. This was a second lesson Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of little children. Solomon wrote, "Children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them." Children are both gifts and role models. Robert C. Hudson April 8, 2026

Family: Distinct and Obedient

April 26, 2026 Background Scripture: Matthew 19:3 9; Ephesians 6:1 - 4; 2 Timothy 1:3-5 Lesson Passage: Deuteronomy 6:3 - 9; Matthew 19:3 - 9 Today's lesson focuses on the family as a divinely appointed institution. It is clear from the passage out of Deuteronomy that God intended for His word to have preeminence in the family. Almost every conceivable way in which the word of God could be made evident is named. It must first start in the believer's heart. After that it should be taught to the children. It was to be talked about while sitting in the house. It was to be discussed while they were away from home. It was to be talked about late at night before retiring to bed and early in the morning after they arose. The word of God was to be as visible as someone wearing jewelry. This preeminence of the word of God in the family would influence the children. Obedience to the word of God promises prosperity for the people of God. Obedience to God's word must begin with the family at home. God's plan was for the family to be a stable institution that would be the building block of society. The stability of the family was based on the husband and wife being joined as one flesh by God. Sin always disrupts God's plans. Sin causes individuals to have hard hearts towards others—including their spouses. God allowed Moses to introduce divorce as an option to prevent a person from living a miserable life with someone who had a hard heart towards them. Jesus made it clear that this was not God's original plan for the family, but the bill of divorcement allowed the two people to be separated and at peace. Despite sin's devastating effect on the family as an institution, God continues to work through families by providing instructions for them. The fact that Paul wrote to a church and instructed children to obey their parents is an indication that disobedient children were part of that society. Likewise, instructing fathers to not provoke their children to anger is an indication that fathers were already provoking their children to anger. Those instructions were sent by Paul to strengthen the Christian families in that society. The father' s provocation was to be replaced by training and teaching their children to love the Lord. This restores God's original intent for the relationship between the father and his children as Moses had instructed Israel. In what is believed to be Paul's last letter, he reflected on how God-fearing families had influenced their offspring. He attributed his steadfast serving of God to the example of his forefathers. Likewise, when Paul spoke of Timothy's genuine faith, he attributed it to the faith of Timothy's mother and grandmother. Faith is not inherited. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. Timothy's grandmother and mother evidently did the very thing God had instructed Israel to do within their families during the time of Moses. In the Law, God instructed the people of Israel to teach the word of God to their children, Their obedience to this provision of the Law was made evident through the generations. Today, Christian families must dare to believe that God blesses obedience to His word the same today as He did in the past. We must believe that our families are blessed and prosper when we make the word of God a priority for our families. We might not see the results immediately, but time will reveal the faithfulness of God in honoring His word. His word declares that when we train up a child in the way that he should go, when he is old, he will not depart from it. It does not say there will not be ups and downs in life as he grows older. But if the word of God is hidden in his heart, it will be a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. The family, as an institution, must remain distinct and obedient to God's word. Robert C. Hudson April 11, 2026

Ezekiel's Responsibility

November 23, 2025 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 18:1 32; 33: 1 - 20 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 33:7 - 16a We touched on part of Ezekiel's responsibility in last week's lesson. God used the example of a watchman for a city. Ancient cities protected themselves by erecting a wall around the perimeter of the city. The walls contained gates that were used for entering and exiting the city by day—or when it was safe to do so, Those walled cities also erected towers strategically placed upon the wall. A person, called a watchman, was charged with occupying each tower and using it to survey the horizon to ensure no enemy was attempting a surprise attack against the city. The watchman's responsibility was simple: If the watchman sees an army approaching, he was to sound an alarm for the people to come into the city and secure the gates. Those protecting the city from the inside would go atop the walls with weapons to defend the city. If when the watchman sounded the alarm, a person on the outside refused to come into the city, that person could be captured or killed. That person would be solely responsible for the consequences of their decision to not heed the warning. All who came into the city was protected because they heeded the warning of the watchman. On the other hand, if the watchman saw an army approaching and failed to sound an alarm, anyone outside of the city could face capture or death at the hands of the enemy. Their blood would be on the hands of the watchman who had failed to execute his duty of warning them. God told Ezekiel that He made him a watchman over the souls of His people. God would show Ezekiel when there was impending danger coming against His people because of their transgressions against God. Ezekiel's responsibility as a watchman was to sound the alarm for the people of God. All who heeded Ezekiel's warning and repented and turned from their transgressions would be spared God's judgment against their souls. God declared that He would not remember their transgressions committed prior to the warning and their repentance. Their repentance allowed them to again be in right standing with God. Put another way, when the people of God repented of their unrighteousness and obeyed God's instructions, God counted their obedience as righteousness. Contrariwise, all who ignored Ezekiel's warning and continued in their transgressions against God would be condemned by God. In either case, Ezekiel's warning kept him in right standing with God. Ezekiel was not responsible for whether a person repented or not. Ezekiel was only responsible for warning them, so they would have the option to repent and be spared. On the other hand, if Ezekiel failed to warn the people after God instructed him to do so, transgressors would die in their transgression, but their blood would be on Ezekiel's hands. God holds the watchman accountable for warning the people. God also holds each individual responsible for the decisions they make to either obey Him or not. God does not condemn a person for the transgressions of their ancestors. Neither does God reward an unrighteous person for the righteous deeds of their ancestors. The soul that sins without repenting shall die. Repentance of the wicked leads to life. Transgressions of the righteous without repentance will lead to death. God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked. God desires to spare the repentant. Therefore, He sends a warning to the people through His watchman. Ezekiel's responsibility to the people of God was to be their watchman. C. Hudson November 7, 2025

Ezekiel's Sign

November 16, 2025 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 1:1 - 3; 2:1 - 3:27; 8:1 - 4; 11:22 - 25; 24:15 - 24; 33:30 - 33 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 3: 10, 11; 24:15 - 24, 27 King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army attacked Judah in 597 B.C. and carried many Jews into captivity. Ezekiel was one of the captives taken to Babylon. Judah's capitol city, Jerusalem, was left intact for approximately eleven years after that. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a vassal leader in Jerusalem and left a remnant of the Jews in Judah. Ezekiel was a priest; however, God began to show him visions and called him to be a prophet to the children of Israel while he was a captive in Babylon. God assured him that the people would know that he is a prophet whether they listen to him or not. Ezekiel was told to receive from God what God gives him and not to rebel like the other children of Israel. He was shown a scroll with lamentations and woes written on it. He was told to eat the scroll and then go speak to Israel. God told Ezekiel to not be afraid of their faces. He was told the people would not listen to him because they didn't listen to God. God told him that He had made him a watchman for Israel. He was warned that if he did not obey God and warn the people according to God's word, the unrighteous would die in their sins but God would require their blood at Ezekiel' s hand. God also told Ezekiel that the children of his people were talking about him. They were treating his prophecies as entertainment. They gladly listened to the word of God and responded verbally. However, their hearts were not aligned with their mouths. Despite the prophecies, they refused to heed what the word of God said to them. Of the many signs God showed Ezekiel, the one in today's lesson was perhaps the most personal for him. God acknowledged that He knew that Ezekiel' s wife was the desire of his eyes; however, God told him that He was going to take her from him. God commanded Ezekiel to not show any visible signs of grieving, such as mourning or crying. Ezekiel was told that he could only grieve her death silently. Ezekiel prophesied as God instructed him to do in the morning, and that evening his wife died. Ezekiel obeyed God's instructions as to how he was allowed to respond emotionally. His behavior confused the children of Israel. They understood that Ezekiel should have been mourning the sudden loss of his wife; his behavior was far from normal. Finally, God gave Ezekiel the prophecy to explain his behavior. The children of Israel who were left as a remnant in Judah would be killed by the sword of their enemy. This would occur because the temple of the Lord had been desecrated. One of the Jews who was part of the remnant in Judah would escape to bring the sad news to the captives. After receiving the news of death of the remnant, the children of Israel in captivity would be required to behave just as Ezekiel had acted. In the past, God had established the manner of sacrifices He required of Israel. They were to be offered at the tabernacle. God permitted King Solomon to build a temple to replace the tabernacle. Rather than focus on the sacrifices as prescribed by God, Israel focused on the temple and polluted it by setting up idol gods in it. Over the course of time, God became one of many gods that Israel associated with the temple that was dedicated to Him. It was an absolute abomination to consider the only living God to be on the level with idols. Giving honor that should only be given to God to idols by bowing down to them provoked God. Israel thought the presence of the temple was their protection, God had left the temple long ago because of its desecration, and now He was preparing for its destruction. Ezekiel's behavior after the death of his wife, was the sign God chose because Israel could not see His emotional response, but they would feel the deep grief He experienced because of their idolatry. Robert C. Hudson November 5, 2025

Jerusalem's Fall

November 9, 2025 Background Scripture: 2 Kings 23:1 - 25:21 Lesson Passage: 2 Kings 24:18 - 20; 25:1 - 9 The end of a sovereign nation at the hands of its enemies is a devastating situation for its leaders and citizens to endure. The ultimate consummation of its fall is the destruction of its capitol city and the capture of its head of state. In 2013, Millennium Films released a film entitled "Olympus Has Fallen". It was a political action film that featured lots of violence and an unrealistic plot. In the film, well organized and heavily armed terrorists launched a bold daytime attack on America's capitol. The president was taken captive, and the White House was destroyed. Of course, at the end of the movie all is well, but the amount of violence in the movie was heavily criticized. It was a stark reminder that war is not pretty, and it has a heavy toll of human lives. The use of the name, Olympus, is worth noting because in Greek mythology, Olympus is the home of the gods of the Greek pantheon. I was reminded of the movie as I studied today's lesson. Prior to the events of this lesson, Israel had existed as a sovereign nation for over four hundred years. Judah, the last vestige of Israel as a sovereign nation, fell to the Babylonians. The capitol city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and its king was taken into captivity. This was their punishment for worshipping idol gods, which provoked the Lord to anger. In a real sense, Jerusalem had become an Olympus. When Jerusalem was destroyed, many of Judah's dignitaries and leaders were either killed or carried away into captivity. The group of captives included craftsmen, civic leaders, the once wealthy, and all men who were fit to serve in the military. Only the poorest citizens were left to tend vineyards and farms that were left intact. Jerusalem had been under siege by Babylon for almost two years. The city was experiencing a famine, and the men of war breached the wall and fled the city by night. Others in the city were left to fend for themselves before the final collapse. King Zedekiah and his sons also attempted to escape. They were captured by the army of the Chaldeans who turned them over to the king of Babylon. They killed King Zedekiah's sons in his presence, and then they put his eyes out. The last thing King Zedekiah saw before they took his eyesight was the death of his sons. Then King Zedekiah was bound and carried into captivity in Babylon, knowing that the end of his family's reign in Jerusalem was final. All the major structures inside the city were burned down. The Lord's house, the king's house, and all other houses were reduced to ashes. Finally, the walls that surrounded the city were broken down all around. Jerusalem could no longer serve as a fortress for people to hide within and feel protected from their enemy. It was at that point that all the people in the city, except the very poor farmers and vinedressers, were taken captive. All vessels and structures made of, or overlaid with, precious metals, from gold to bronze, were dismantled or cut in pieces and carried to Babylon as spoils of war. The inhabitants of Judah were taken from the land God had promised to the descendants of their patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Judah consisted of the last two tribes of the twelve tribes of Israel. The other ten tribes to the north were defeated and taken into captivity by Assyria one hundred and thirty-six years earlier. All twelve tribes and their leaders had failed to live up to the covenant God made with them. They had openly provoked God by worshipping idols and leading the nation to do so. When God sent prophets to warn them, they either killed the prophets or labeled them as false prophets and ignored them. When God punished them to bring them to repentance, they fled to Gentile nations to avoid the punishment. Today's lesson was not a political action film, but it can be described as "Olympus Has Fallen". C. Hudson October 29, 2025

Jeremiah's Rescue

November 2, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 20:1 – 6: 37:1 - 38:28; 43: I - 7 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 38:7 - 13 Our Background Scripture covers many difficult situations that occurred in Jeremiah's life prior to the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah was physically abused and unfairly restrained because he steadfastly proclaimed what the Lord told him to proclaim. Some of the Jewish leaders wanted Jeremiah to prophesy good things to them that was contrary to what the Lord was telling him to say. Jeremiah refused to prophesy anything except what the Lord told him to prophesy. Jeremiah's fidelity in doing the will of God became the reason for his mistreatment. He was physically abused on several occasions by those who did not like what he prophesied, They believed Jeremiah was speaking evil against them, and they were experiencing it as a result. They reasoned that if Jeremiah spoke well of them, then they would experience good. They did not consider that Jeremiah was God's mouthpiece. Jeremiah proclaimed what the Lord told him to say. To do otherwise would make Jeremiah a false prophet, and his prophecies would not come to pass. Eventually, Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonian army, and many Jews were taken captive to Babylon. A very small remnant of Jews was left in Judah. They continued to live contrary to God's word and to mistreat Jeremiah. On one occasion, Jeremiah was put in prison, and from there he was placed in a dungeon. The dungeon was a deep pit with mud in the bottom. When Jeremiah was placed in the dungeon, he sank down in the mud. There was no water to drink in the pit; just mud. When an Ethiopian eunuch heard what had happened to Jeremiah, he complained to the king about the unfair treatment of Jeremiah. He told the king that Jeremiah would die of hunger if he was not removed from the pit. The king ordered the Ethiopian to take thirty men and remove Jeremiah from the dungeon. They lifted Jeremiah out of the dungeon with care, so as not to injure him, and placed him in prison. He was not given freedom; he was placed in better living conditions in a prison. They kept restraining the prophet, but the prophecy God sent through him could not be restrained. Finally, the Jewish remnant in Judah asked Jeremiah to petition the Lord on their behalf and whatever God said they would obey. Jeremiah petitioned the Lord for them, and ten days later the Lord sent them a reply through Jeremiah, The Lord rebuked them because of their hypocrisy that He knew about beforehand. They were already plotting something that was against God's will. They were planning to go to Egypt to avoid further judgment from God. God warned them to not do what they were planning and remain as a remnant in Judah. God promised to protect them in Judah and cause them to grow again. On the other hand, if they go to Egypt, they would be destroyed there. God would send the Babylonian army to crush Egypt and destroy them as well. (God used the Babylonian empire to do His will. The Babylonian army became God's sword of justice.) The remnant of Jews refused to accept Jeremiah's prophecy and denounced Jeremiah as a false prophet. They went to Egypt and carried Jeremiah with them. Throughout the series of mistreatments Jeremiah endured, God always provided someone to rescue him. Note that Jeremiah was not spared from going through those situations, but God protected him and delivered him. Sometimes we must go through the valley of the shadow of death. Our faith is that the Lord will rescue us as He did Jeremiah. Robert C. Hudson October 24, 2025

Changes Promised

October 26, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 31:1 - 40; John 1 :17; Hebrews 8:7 - 13 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 31:29 - 34; John 1:17 Even as Jeremiah continued to prophesy the nation's punishment that was imminent, God sent a prophecy of consolation. There was hope beyond their upcoming exile into Babylon. God promised to restore His people after the punishment. Most of them would be sent into exile. But a remnant would survive the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem. God would allow that remnant of Judah to return to Palestine. Their disobedience to the covenant God made with their ancestors led to their imminent punishment. Israel accepted the terms of that covenant with the chastisement that came with it; God chastens those He love. The covenant promised blessings from God in exchange for their obedient behavior to His Law. The same covenant also warned of punishment for disobedient behavior. Some in Israel believed they were being punished for the deeds of their ancestors who lived contrary to God's law. Today we call this generational curse. It was easier for them to blame their ancestors than to admit their failure to live up to the standards of the Law. Unfortunately, the Law did not give them the ability to live holy. The Law only exposed sin that is in human flesh. That exposure should lead us to seek the mercy of God. Instead, human pride causes us to stubbornly continue down the path of unrighteousness. The result for them was the punishment outlined in the covenant God made with them. The covenant only stipulated rewards or punishment based on their behavior. The covenant did exactly what it was intended to do. The Law exposed sin that is in human flesh. That sin causes us to rebel against the holiness of God and embrace human pride. The Law stipulated the punishment for it. God promised a new covenant for the remnant that would be restored to the land. They would have the opportunity to get it right. The new covenant would not be written on tablets of stone like the first covenant God gave to the nation through Moses. The provisions and punishments of that covenant had to be taught to the people. The new covenant would be written in the hearts of God's people. Each person would know what God expects of them. Then, each person would be accountable for their own sin. It would be clear that no one would be punished for the deeds of their ancestors. Each person would be accountable for their own iniquity. The new covenant within each person would cause them to know God, and that knowledge would convict them of personal sin. The first covenant was weak because it was based on the works of the flesh. The flesh fights against the things of God which are holy. The first covenant exposed it but was powerless to do anything about it because it was based on rewards and punishments for human behavior. Therefore, they reacted even as we do today: they ignored their sin and acted as though it did not exist. They thought they could avoid punishment by doing so. That is not an option for anyone who is made aware of the new covenant. The new covenant would recognize the presence of God within His people. We cannot ignore His presence because we are brought under conviction by it. While under conviction, the only option is to plead with God for mercy. This new covenant causes God to extend His unmerited favor to us. The new covenant goes beyond rewards and punishments based on human behavior. The new covenant promises the presence of God's grace in the lives of His repentant children. This new covenant would make the first covenant obsolete. These were drastic changes promised by God. The remnant would have reason to hope in the promises of God, and so do we. Robert C. Hudson September 19, 2025

A Family's Example

October 19, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 35: 1 - 19 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 35:5 - 11 We have learned that the human brain receives and processes information from different sources. Some things we hear and learn, some things we see and learn, and some things we touch, or experience, and learn. Although we tend to be biased towards one of these modes of learning, the human brain receives and processes information from each mode. God uses all these modes to communicate with His people. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That reflects the power of visual learning. God sometimes uses role models as visual examples to be followed. It is rare for an individual to be chosen by God for such a privilege. It is even rarer that an entire family is identified as role models. In today's lesson, God used a family of Rechabites as a demonstration of loyal behavior to the instructions of a father. After giving a series of verbal messages to Jeremiah, God arranged a visual message for him. God used the example of a family that was committed to following the instructions of their patriarch. God told Jeremiah to go to the family's home and invite them to the temple. God told him to take the family into a room inside of the temple. Following God's instructions, Jeremiah had prepared a bowl of wine and some cups. Jeremiah told the family to drink some wine. They were steadfast in their refusal to do so because of the past instructions of the family's patriarch. Their patriarch had given instructions to his family to abstain from drinking wine forever. They were told to not build houses or plant fields or vineyards, but they were to remain nomadic. They were to live as foreigners and not homesteaders. They were given instructions to live in a manner that reinforced the temporary nature of life in this world. However, they were living in Jerusalem at the time Jeremiah received these instructions. They were living in Jerusalem rather than as nomads because they fled there from the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, when he invaded Palestine. Jeremiah took the family into a very private area of the temple. Their reaction to Jeremiah's invitation for them to indulge in the wine he provided was instructive. This was the heart of the message: Even in a private environment where no one could see what they were doing except Jeremiah, that family steadfastly obeyed the instructions of their father. God contrasted their obedient behavior to their patriarch to the disobedience of His people who have received His commandments. God challenged Jeremiah to go tell the men of Judah to receive instructions to obey God's words with that same type of fidelity to God's word that the Rechabite family had to the instructions of their patriarch. This was a human family obeying the instructions of their forefather, but God's family refused to obey His divine instructions. God reached out to His people many times; including through many prophets. God warned them to obey His commandments and avoid idol gods so they would be allowed to remain in the land of promise. However, the people of God refused to listen to God's warnings. And because they refused to listen to God's instructions, neither did they obey them. Therefore, the doom prophesied against His people would happen. They would not be allowed to remain in the land but would become slaves in a foreign land. The Rechabite family, in contrast, would be rewarded with a servant standing in God's presence forever because of their example of obedience to their father. Rarely do individuals receive such an honor; and here the Rechabites were used by God as a family's example of obedience to their father. Robert C. Hudson September 26, 2025

Jeremiah's Message

October 12, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 7:1 - 26 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 7:1 -11, 21-23 Last week's lesson looked at Jeremiah's calling and the hostile reaction of the priests and other prophets towards him. That was a peculiar combination of critics given that Jeremiah was born into a priestly family and called to be a prophet of God at an early age, In this week's lesson, we examine the contents of one of Jeremiah's messages that sparked their hostile reaction. This message was delivered at one of the gates that led into the temple area. The Lord sent the message to those who were entering the temple. The message proclaimed that God would not allow the people to continue to enter the temple and offer empty worship. God demanded that their hearts and lifestyle line up with their worship. God denounced their hypocritical attitude that they could live as they pleased and still worship God in the temple. A true relationship with God is manifest first in a changed heart whereby a person's desires and motives align with the will of God. Only then will outward worship be sincere and pure without hypocrisy. God is not moved by external acts of worship that come from an unrepentant heart. An unrepentant heart chases after evil. Religious activities by a sinner cannot atone for an unclean heart. God demanded that His people live as He commanded in the Law. Namely, that they would sincerely love Him with all their being and demonstrate benevolent love towards others. The demonstration of love towards God would require them to totally abandon their idols. They were going to the temple to worship while they were still worshiping idol gods. The demonstration of love towards others would manifest as being just towards everybody and non-oppressive to widows, orphans, and strangers. God did not allow them to live in the land of promise simply as a birthright, He gave the land to their forefathers forever. However, they were required to live there as people of God as specified in the Law. They wanted the benefits of living in the promise land while they lived there in a manner they chose. Sinful and selfish living would bring the wrath of God upon them. God warned their ancestors to not bow down and worship idol gods. Since the days He brought their ancestors out of Egypt, He had sent prophets to warn them about sinful living. Now, this generation was following in the footsteps of their ancestors who rebelled against God. They were attempting to live in rebellion against God and worship God as though they had not turned their backs on Him. God sent Jeremiah to expose and denounce their hypocritical living. God reminded them to look at the history of their ancestors who had abandoned God's ways. They worshiped idols and attempted to worship God at the tabernacle. God totally wiped out any signs of the place where the tabernacle once stood as His dwelling place. This was done because of the wickedness of God's people, their ancestors. Wickedness was not a matter of them being mean and evil all the time. Their wickedness was in living as they pleased while pretending to honor and worship God. That was an affront to an all-knowing God. God declared that He would likewise destroy the temple in Jerusalem if His people failed to repent. God went even further and forbade Jeremiah from interceding in prayer for the people because their actions showed no remorse. God did not demand worship from His people. He demanded holy living from them. The Law described holiness, so they knew what God expected of them. But as it is with us today, the more we understand what God requires of us, the more our flesh rebels against it. Even today, Jeremiah's message still resonates in us and convicts us! C. Hudson September 19, 2025

Jeremiah's Call and Arrest October 5, 2025

Background Scripture: Jeremiah 1:1 - 10; 8:18; 9:2; 26:1 -24 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 1:6 10; 26:8, 9, 12 - 15 Jeremiah's life and ministry as a prophet of God should serve as a reminder of the heavy burden God's prophets carried. Many of them were arrested, beaten, and even killed for doing God's will. They spoke to the people the words that God gave them to deliver. God's words were often received with contempt and anger. Their anger was directed towards the servant of God who delivered the message. Anger turned into hostility, and many recipients responded with violence towards those prophets. In today's lesson, Jeremiah received his calling as a prophet of God when he was a young person. Jeremiah was born into the family of priests. His assignment in life was specified in the Law. However, God had other plans for Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed him in the womb. Furthermore, God ordained Jeremiah to be His prophet before he was born. In other words, although Jeremiah was born into the family of priests, he was born to do God's will as a prophet rather than performing the duties of the priests that are specified in the Law. Some prophets had minor roles, but Jeremiah was not given a minor role as a prophet of God. God declared that Jeremiah would be a prophet that would speak to the nations and national leaders in His name. Jeremiah was an eyewitness of the spiritual decline of God's people. Despite being rescued from their enemies repeatedly by God, His people continued to revert to worshiping idols, Jeremiah grew tired of seeing it. He wanted to run away and seek refuge so he would not have to continue to see the nation's spiritual corruption and downfall. Instead of being allowed to run away, God sent Jeremiah to prophesy to His people in the courtyard of the temple. Jeremiah was sent to confront God's people as they entered the temple to worship. As he stood in the courtyard, he prophesied about the destruction that would come upon the people of God. That was a difficult message for the people to receive when they arrived for worship. However, God said if the people listen to Jeremiah and repent, He will not allow the calamities prophesied to occur. When Jeremiah finished speaking in the courtyard, the priests and other prophets took him into custody because of the message he proclaimed to them in God's name. They threatened Jeremiah with death because of the message. Jeremiah insisted that he was only doing what God instructed him to do. He acknowledged that he could not defend himself against them if they chose to put him to death. But he told them that if they were to kill him, they would have innocent blood on their hands. He had not spoken in his own name. Nor was he in control of the events God told him to prophesy. After he finished speaking in his own defense, some of the elders accepted Jeremiah's message and explanation. They compared him to other prophets sent by God in Israel's past who had similar testimonies. They also acknowledged that the nation was guilty of the trespasses against God spoken of by Jeremiah. Despite the reasoning of some, others offered opposing views of how some prophets in the nation's past had to be arrested and put to death to silence them and supposedly, the nation prospered afterwards! As a prophet of God, Jeremiah stood between the Lord and His people. The Lord used Jeremiah as His mouthpiece to warn His people. Rather than heed the warnings as being from God, many chose to view the warnings as Jeremiah's personal message. They rejected the message, and they persecuted Jeremiah because they were offended by the message. At the onset of his ministry, God assured Jeremiah of his divine calling. God also assured Jeremiah that He would be with him to deliver him because the people hearing his prophecy would fight against him. Jeremiah needed this assurance many times during his ministry. Robert C. Hudson September 19, 2025

Isaiah's Call and Ministry

September 7, 2025 Background Scripture: Isaiah 6:1 – 13; 7:1 – 7; 20:1 – 6; 38:1 -22 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 6:1 - 8; 38: 1 - 5 Isaiah is considered the greatest of the writing prophets. The volume of his writing is more than the others. The timespan covered by his writing is greater than the others. The Book of Isaiah is sometimes considered a miniature version of the bible. The bible contains sixty-six books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. The Book of Isaiah contains sixty-six chapters. The first thirty-nine chapters seem distinctly different from the last twenty-seven chapters. Some have even referred to this as First and Second Isaiah. The fortieth book of the bible is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The fortieth chapter of Isaiah introduces the reader to the Suffering Servant of God. The bible closes with the Book of Revelation declaring the unveiling of a new heaven and a new earth. As the Book of Isaiah closes, he wrote about a new heaven and a new earth. In the Background Scripture, Isaiah shares with the reader the year and the circumstances surrounding his calling of God to be a prophet. His calling consisted of two things as with other biblical callings, he reported what he saw and what he heard. Isaiah was given a heavenly vision of God's throne room. The vision convicted him because of his own unholiness. One of the seraphim used a live coal from the altar to purge Isaiah of his sin. It was then that Isaiah heard and accepted the call of the Lord to be His messenger. With that commission, God sent Isaiah to the king of Judah to assure him that God would protect His people. Throughout his ministry God used Isaiah to make bold proclamations of things that only God could do. In some cases, God used Isaiah as a visible example to His people of the message God sent that was not always received by His people. Some of those examples required great humility on Isaiah's part. On one occasion, Isaiah was required by God to walk around in public naked and barefoot for three years. It is true that we can see a person's glory but not know their story. Some of the assignments God gave Isaiah would be quite challenging even today. We don't always respond as we should to God's assignments. Even when God is clear, our decisions are not always firm. We vacillate between apprehension and rebellion. We are apprehensive because we recognize the awesomeness of God communicating directly with a sinful person. We rebel because rebellion is easy. Our flesh naturally rebels against the Spirit of God. Isaiah was used mightily by God even after being apprehensive about God's calling on his life. God gave Isaiah some bold proclamations to proclaim to the political powers of his day. Some of those proclamations spoke of healing to the hopeless. Some proclaimed doom to the proud and irreverent. Isaiah' s greatness as a prophet of God has nothing to do with glorying in human ability and intellect. It was Isaiah's humility and submission to God that caused God to elevate him to such a status. Isaiah's call and ministry is a reminder for us that God is always faithful to His word. What God speaks will come to pass. Our worthiness has nothing to do with God's faithfulness. Our humility and submission to the will of God allows us to be used by God to accomplish His will on earth. There are many today who wear the title of prophet; I don't question their calling of God. I do question whether they would submit to the type of assignments God gave Isaiah. Again, Isaiah's calling was more than vocal proclamation. Sometimes Isaiah had to visibly live the message God sent to His people. Oftentimes, the message God sends involves more than giving a speech. We see this in Isaiah's call and ministry. Robert C. Hudson August 29, 2025

Living Stones in a Spiritual Temple

August 31, 2025 Background Scripture: I Peter 2:1 -17 Lesson Passage: I Peter 2:1 - 12 The Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul had very different backgrounds prior to following Christ. Peter was a fisherman and Paul was a tentmaker. From a religious perspective, Paul was a leader of Pharisees. The bible does not reveal Peter's religious background prior to being called into ministry, other than being a Jewish layman. Both men were called into ministry by Jesus. Jesus called Peter to follow Him and become His disciple prior to His crucifixion. Paul was confronted by the risen Jesus after His crucifixion while Paul was attempting to persecute followers of Christ. Paul believed that the followers of Christ were a threat to Judaism. It seems that Christ would have communicated differently with a spiritual leader of the Jews than He would a layperson. Yet, despite their different backgrounds, Peter and Paul received the same understanding from God as it relates to God's desire for Christians. God has revealed through the Apostles of Jesus Christ His desire to live inside every Christian, and His desire to direct their affairs as they work in unison to accomplish His will in this world. Both Peter and Paul describe Christians as components of the spiritual dwelling place for God in the world. Both apostles admonished believers to live lives worthy of being called children of God. As God lives in each of us and directs our activities to accomplish His will, people in the world who don't know God will be exposed to His presence through Christians. This is one of the things Jesus accomplished through His earthly ministry prior to being crucified. In His teaching and activities, Jesus allowed others to see the work of God through Him. Jesus said to His disciples, "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the work." Jesus kept insisting that God, the Father, was doing the miracles through Him. Jesus made Himself available through submissive prayer and obedience to God. He allowed God to accomplish His will through Him. And this is the promise Jesus made to His disciples before and after His crucifixion concerning what would happen as they yielded to the Holy Spirit who Jesus was sending to them. As they allowed the Holy Spirit to work through them, they would do greater works than Jesus! Of course they would not actually do the works, or miracles, The Holy Spirit living in them would do the works as they yielded themselves to His lordship. The entire Christian community would become the apparatus for God to work through in this world. Although we are alive, each Christian is like a single shaped stone that is used in building an earthly temple. The stones are shaped to prepare them to be used in construction rather than natural stones. Through the process of sanctification, God works in each believer to shape us and prepare us for His use. We collectively become God' s earthly, or physical, temple. This earthly temple is the body of Christ in this world. Christians are set apart by God and placed in the body of Christ to work with other Christians. As individual parts of this unique and holy entity in the world, we indeed are the physical building materials used by God. Each Christian should understand that God's temple is incomplete without us. As individual living stones, none is greater than others. The body depends on all living stones functioning to the glory of God, As the chief cornerstone of this temple, Jesus connects us with each other and to God. Knowing these things should encourage us to live out our faith in this corrupt world. By doing so, we silence the critics who don't know the Lord and glorify God in the process. This was the apostles' message. Robert C. Hudson August 7, 2025

Sacrifices of Praise

August 24, 2025 Background Scripture: Hebrews 13 - 21 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 13:9 - 21 Neither the author nor the recipients of this letter are explicitly identified in this letter. Furthermore, known authors of the other New Testament writings do not refer to this letter although they addressed many of the same concerns. However, the internal evidence within this letter is insightful. Throughout this letter, the author addresses the recipients as brethren. The author also refers to many Old Testament scriptures and teachings as though they were familiar to the recipients. It is for these reasons that many scholars believe this letter was written to Christian Jews, or Hebrews. The author of the letter did not include the words, "To the Hebrews", but the evidence within the letter alludes to it. Our Background Scripture revolves around the concept of the altar and religious sacrifices of the Levitical Law. When we use the word "sacrifice" in our society, rarely do we think of it in terms of a religious practice, We tend to think of a sacrifice as doing something we find inconvenient, or we willingly tolerate something we might find objectionable. In both cases, we believe we have made a sacrifice. However, Jews in the first century, when this letter was written, were taught to think of sacrifice as a religious act of faith. It was not a matter of inconvenience. It was a matter of making a personal connection with God. In the Law, those who brought animals to be sacrificed to God by the priest, participated in the meaning of the sacrifice by eating the meat of the animal that was killed and offered to God on the altar. They understood that their consumption of the meat that was sacrificed on the altar was their way of identifying with the animal that died on their behalf. They believed their participation in the process was their way of accepting that God had forgiven them of sin because the animal died on the altar for their sin. The priest offered the blood of the sacrifice before God in the sanctuary of the tabernacle (later the temple). Eating at the altar was both a privilege and a right that was granted to the Jewish priest. Certain body parts of the sacrifice were burned outside of Israel's encampment. The author of this epistle used the analogy of Jesus being crucified on Calvary outside of Jerusalem as a comparison, or fulfillment of God's plan. The cross on Calva1Y that bore Jesus became God's altar, and Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin. Likewise, Jesus offered His own blood to God on behalf of believers. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. It is for this reason Christians ought to praise God by giving thanks to Jesus' name. In other words, praise is becoming of Christians, but it should not be seen as sufficient. Christians must also do the works that are befitting of those who have been saved from eternal damnation because of Jesus' blood, Benevolent love should motivate us to meet the needs of others we encounter. In fact, benevolent love should be the lifestyle of Christians. A Christian's good works done in faith are also sacrifices to God. We should respect and follow those God has assigned as our leaders. All have sinned and come short of God's glory; all includes spiritual leaders. Despite the shortcomings of spiritual leaders, spiritual leaders must still give an account to God for those they are assigned to shepherd. Therefore, spiritual leaders need prayer and sincere eff01t from those who follow them. It is difficult enough just to give an account for oneself. Each of us must depend on God to work in us that which pleases Him. As we grow spiritually, we grow into areas of ministry God has assigned for us. As we all mature spiritually, we collectively behave as one body in Christ, Then all of us will express gratitude to God by giving thanks and offering Him the sacrifice of praise. Robert C. Hudson July 31, 2025

The Two Made One

August 17, 2025 Background Scripture: Ephesians 2:11 - 22 Lesson Passage: Ephesians 2:11 - 22 The Apostle Paul was the perfect servant of God to pen the words of today's lesson. His name was Saul, but after his encounter with Jesus, Jesus changed his name to Paul. As a Pharisee of the Pharisees, Saul had in-depth knowledge of Judaism. He was thoroughly familiar with the Levitical laws that govern the Jews as the people of God. Saul was also knowledgeable of the covenant promises God made to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The creation of Israel as a sovereign nation was according to the covenant promise God made to Abraham. Saul became confused when the risen Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Saul was traveling to find Jewish Christians and persecute them for their teachings that Saul thought was blasphemous and counter to Judaism. Jesus interrupted Saul's journey. Jesus identified Himself - but even more than that, He let Saul know that He identified with the group Saul was persecuting; it was personal for Jesus. Saul was confronted with irrefutable evidence that what the Christians proclaimed was indeed true. Jesus was crucified because the Jewish leaders rejected His claim to be the Son of God. Now, this same Jesus is risen from the dead and had interrupted Saul's effort to destroy the Christians. If Jesus was indeed risen and declaring Himself to be God, what would that mean for the covenants God made with the patriarchs? This was a major concern for Saul. If Gentiles who did not receive the Law were now being saved without the Law, what does that say about Israel who was separated in the world as the people of God? Did God abandon Israel and His promises to the patriarchs in favor of Gentiles? Saul's knowledge of Israel's history and the covenants prompted many questions for him—and Israel! As a result of questions such as these, Saul engaged in much prayer to seek God and understand what it all meant. The answer God gave Saul is the heart of this lesson: in Jesus Christ, God brings both groups, Jews and saved Gentiles, together into one new person. God had not abandoned the Jews, neither did He leave the Gentiles outside of His plan of salvation for all people. Therefore, the Jews who were separated from other nations in becoming the people of God should no longer despise the Gentiles who are being saved by God through faith. Likewise, the Gentiles, who were once without hope of salvation, should not think themselves to be more than the Jews. In fact, through Jesus Christ, the two groups must accept that they are spiritually joined together as one. This is not a matter of tolerating each other but rather seeing themselves as united together in Christ. Gentiles who are saved and Jews share a common foundation which has Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. They are both members of one household, the household of God. This one entity containing Jews and saved Gentiles is the earthly temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The theology behind this union is so profound that Paul used the analogy of the institution of marriage, as God had established it, to describe this new theology. Like marriage, this is not one plus one equal two. This is one plus one equals one. That means if one hurts, the other hurts. If one is elevated and prospers, the other is elevated and prospers. What Saul and the Jewish leaders thought was a misguided cult of Jews, was the eternal plan of God to bring salvation to mankind as He promised Abraham in His covenant. God promised Abraham that He would bless all nations through his descendant. Jesus is the human descendant of Abraham. God does not have two groups He considers His children, the Jews and the Christian church. In Jesus Christ, the two have been made one. Robert C. Hudson July 31, 2025

Our Bodies Belong to God

August 10, 2025 Background Scripture: Romans 12:1 - 21; 1 Corinthians 6:12 - 20 Lesson Passage: 1 Corinthians 6:12 - 20 I believe in the free moral agency of mankind. The book of Genesis makes that clear. Mankind is created in the image and after the likeness of God. God gives directions to His own will. He created mankind with the same ability. Adam was created by God and given the ability to make decisions, or to have a will and not to live based on his instincts. Other lifeforms in this world live and survive based on their instincts. On the other hand, mankind was not created to be independent of all. Mankind was created to be submissively dependent on God. Submission is necessary because being dependent is an act of the will of mankind. When Adam followed the guidance of the serpent, he was led away from the will of God and unintentionally became enslaved to sin. It was an act of his will to follow the serpent, but his dependency on whatever he submits to was not under his control. When sin entered this world through Adam, mankind became enslaved to sin. We are born into this world enslaved to sin and remain so unless we are delivered from it through salvation. Because of His love for mankind, God offers us salvation through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Salvation frees mankind from the dominion of sin and death. However, we are not set free to do as we please. Salvation frees us to submit to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation restores to us the ability to be submissively dependent on God. God purchased our souls with the blood of Jesus Christ for this purpose. For those of us who are in Christ, we belong to God. Just as we were slaves of sin when we were unsaved, we are now the servants of God because of salvation through Jesus Christ. God expresses His will to us so that we might serve Him sincerely. As slaves of sin, we sought to please our flesh in every way; sin demanded that we be disobedient to God's will. As children of God, we are admonished to serve God and not to please our flesh. This choice causes Christians to be confronted with a dilemma. Because we still live in our flesh, we still have an overwhelming desire to please our flesh. This feels natural to us because we were born this way. However, after we are saved and learn the will of God for us, we desire to please God, but it doesn't feel natural to do so. Our lesson today is a reminder that Christians are obligated to submissively serve God. Pleasing our flesh is rebellion against the will and dominion of God. We have been delivered from sin so that we can submit to God. Submission brings us under the power of the one we submit to. We were saved and spiritually joined as one body to be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives each of us a gift to use as part of the body. Some gifts are for the building up of the body, and some gifts allow the body to serve others. The use of spiritual gifts brings glory to God. When the entire body of Christians functions as one to do God's will, then are we an expression of God's image and likeness in this world. This is in accordance with God's will for humanity, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion ..." Through mankind who has been made holy, God exercises physical dominion in the physical world He created. His will is done through the creature He created for that purpose. An unsaved person cannot fulfill this purpose because of sin's dominion. Neither can saved individuals fulfill God's purpose if we rebel against God by embracing sin. Christians have a dilemma because our flesh craves sin, but our bodies belong to God. Therefore, through submission to God, we receive the help we need from the Spirit to do God's will. Robert C. Hudson July 31, 2025

Jesus Predicts the Temple's Destruction

July 27, 2025 Background Scripture: Matthew 23:37; 24:35 (Mark 13:1 – 23; Luke 21:5 - 24) Lesson Passage: Matthew 24:1 - 14 I tend to cringe when I see the word "predict" used to describe prophecy, but that's the word used in our lesson's topic. Prophecy is a foretold Prophecy is an accurate account of a situation that will occur in the future. I think of the word "predict" as referring to future possibilities that are based on probabilities. Predictions may or may not happen. Prophecies will absolutely happen. In our lesson, Jesus speaks words of prophecy not prediction. What Jesus said is absolute and it will come to pass. Prophecy has a peculiar characteristic: prophetic events are often sequential in time without a timeline given. Because of this characteristic, certain events will happen prior to others. However, the occurrence of those events doesn't necessarily trigger the onset of the others; they just occur first based on the prophecy. Subsequent events might occur thousands of years later in the sequence. When the temple in Jerusalem was described by early Jewish writers such as Josephus, it is easy to understand how awe-inspiring of a structure it was. The entire complex covered about twenty acres. The major stones used for its construction were marble weighing tons each. They were adorned with gold ornamentation. At its peak height, the structure stood about one hundred feet high, That temple was constructed during the rule of the Herod's over a period that spanned more than forty years. No doubt, it was one of the unique wonders of the world in the first century. It was a monument to human creativity and construction. As Jesus and His disciples left the temple complex during the final week of His ministry in Jerusalem, some of them pointed out to Jesus how impressive the temple was. Perhaps they saw it as a structure that would last for as long as the world exists. However, Jesus responded by telling of the coming destruction of the temple that would not leave one stone atop another. How could they imagine those huge marble stones being toppled? Who, or what, would have the power to do such a thing? Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and sat facing the temple. Some of His disciples came to Him and asked when will the temple be destroyed, and how would they know the time of His return. Jesus told them about end of time events that would precede the destruction of the temple. They were warned to be alert because many deceivers were coming prior to His return. They would claim to be the Messiah. There will be worldwide conflict between nations also. Many natural disasters will unfold such as famines, pestilences, and widespread earthquakes. Before Jesus returns, some Christians will be persecuted, and people will lose compassion for each other. In short, the world will become a much worse place before Jesus returns. Some people will attempt to flee for their lives with no place to go. But people from every nation will have the opportunity to be saved from eternal destruction. That opportunity will happen because the gospel will be preached to every nation prior to Jesus' return. The times of tribulation will cause widespread calamities, both suffering and deaths. Anyone living at the time of tribulations will not be able to avoid it. But the good news. is everyone will have the opportunity to escape eternal damnation. The preaching of the gospel is essential for everyone. God loves people because we were created in His image and according to His likeness. Sin marred the image of God in us, but it didn't change God's love for us. God offers us salvation through Jesus. The world as we know it will end because destruction is coming. The tribulation in this world will usher in the kingdom of God. Jesus' prophetic statement was a warning, but it included good news for all who will accept Him before He returns. Robert C. Hudson July 16, 2025

Cleansing the Temple

July 20, 2025 Background Scripture: John 2:13 -25; Matthew 21:12 - 17; Mark 11:15 - 19; Luke 19:45 - 48 Lesson Passage: John 2:13 - 25 It is rare that the scriptures present Jesus as becoming indignant because of the actions of those who are considered the people of God. There are many situations recorded in the gospel accounts that we would understand had He become so—especially when it came to the leadership of the Jews. At first glance, the scenario that unfolds in today's lesson seems an unlikely situation for indignation to occur. That makes this incident a learning opportunity for us. Based on the Background Scripture, it appears that this incident occurred twice. John records it as occurring at the onset of Jesus' ministry. The synoptic writers of the gospel record it as occurring towards the conclusion of His ministry. It is likely that the merchants continued to do what they were doing throughout Jesus' ministry. They would not have been easily swayed to abandon their practices since they questioned whether Jesus had the authority to stop them. The Lesson Passage taken from the Gospel of John is Jesus' first public offer of Himself to Israel as their Messiah. This occurred during Passover. As the Passover celebration approached, Jews would travel from miles around to the temple in Jerusalem. The men were required by the Law to present themselves at the temple with a sacrificial offering and a financial tax for the upkeep and service of the temple. It was more convenient for the ones who traveled a great distance to purchase an animal for sacrifice after arriving in Jerusalem. This practice created an economic opportunity for those who sold animals and provided the currency needed for the temple tax (the priests did not accept foreign currency for the tax). Sadly, when there is an opportunity for economic gain, there is also the opportunity to take advantage of the consumer. There appears to have been two trespasses involved that caused Jesus to react as He did. First, the merchants set up their shops on the temple grounds. Although the location was advantageous for the merchants, the shops did not need to be on the temple grounds. The presence of the shops made part of the temple grounds a commercial area. This is the reason Jesus referred to the practice as turning the temple into a house of merchandise. Secondly, some merchants appeared to be making an unreasonable profit at the expense of those who traveled from afar to worship in Jerusalem according to the Law. The travelers without sacrificial animals or the correct currency were at the mercy of the merchants to pay whatever they demanded. Both trespasses interrupted the spirit of worship that should have been present within the temple grounds. As a result, Jesus drove all of them—including the animals from the temple grounds, poured out the money changers' money, and turned the merchants' tables over. The temple held a special place in the relationship between God and Israel. King Solomon ordered the construction of Israel's first temple. When Solomon prayed and dedicated Israel's first temple, he prayed that it would be a place for God to dwell among His people. God specified in the Law the activities that should take place within the temple. Those activities foreshadowed the atoning work of Jesus for all of mankind. There was even a place within the temple grounds specified for Gentiles. Any person that came to the temple should have done so for some form of prayer and/or worship. The merchants appear to have been there to make a profit and not for prayer or the sincere worship of God. It was personal for Jesus; especially during the Passover. The Passover observance foreshadowed Jesus' crucifixion for the sins of the world. Anything that profaned the Passover, or the temple, was spiritual pollution. Therefore, Jesus cleansed the temple. C. Hudson June 26, 2025

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

July 6, 2025 Background Scripture: Luke 2:41 - 52 Lesson Passage: Luke 2:41 - 52 The bible gives us three glimpses of Jesus' childhood: a newborn baby in a manger in Bethlehem, a child (perhaps toddler) in a house in Bethlehem, and a pre-teen (twelve years of age) in the temple in Jerusalem. Today's lesson examines the latter. Each recorded occasion of Jesus' childhood involved some group looking for Him, In our Lesson Passage, His parents are the ones looking for Him. Jesus was not lost; Jesus was just not where His parents expected Him to be. Jesus was born into a poor Jewish family that followed the rituals of the Law. Their adherence to the Law required them to go to the temple in Jerusalem every year to observe the Passover. Extended families in different regions outside of Jerusalem traveled to the temple as a group. The families returned to their homes after the Passover celebration. It would have been normal for families to expect the children to be together as they journeyed to and from Jerusalem. After traveling from Jerusalem for one day, Jesus' parents, Joseph and Mary, discovered that He was not among the family group traveling home as they expected. After traveling back to Jerusalem and searching for an additional two days, they found Jesus in the temple. Jesus was sitting with the teachers of the Law listening and asking them questions. Those teachers were amazed at Jesus' level of understanding. Perhaps the profound nature of His questions is what amazed them. On the other hand, Mary's statement seems appropriate for a mother who had no knowledge of her child's whereabouts for three days. She made it clear that they were stressed out because of His absence. Jesus' response did not clarify the situation for her. He said, "I must be about My Father's business." Since Joseph, the carpenter, raised Jesus as his son, Jesus' Father's business was expected to be carpentry. Jesus submitted to His parents and returned to Nazareth with them. He continued to grow in stature and wisdom under His parents' oversight until the beginning of His public minist1Y. Meanwhile, Mary remembered His words although she did not understand them at that time. Many of us have experienced the minist1Y calling of God without knowing the timing, or the season for which God has prepared us. Some have waited reluctantly, and some have waited with the hope that it would pass. Yet there are others, like Jesus, who have attempted to start right away without God's prompting. Whatever the case might be, recognizing the calling of God and being willing to respond to Him is essential for all. In this lesson, we see a young Jesus who was eager to do His Father's bidding years before his ministry was to begin at the Jordan River. He continued to grow and experience life in this world as we do. He needed to grow up as a normal person in this world. However, Jesus did so without any sin. This was all necessary so Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. As we reflect on this passage of scripture, there is a certain irony in that Jesus reacted the way He did at the Jewish Passover celebration. The Passover foreshadowed the goal of Jesus' ministry. In another twenty-one years, Jesus would be offered as the world's Passover Lamb. Perhaps this is what prompted the questions and responses He shared with the teachers of the Law that left them astonished. Could it be they were discussing the Passover event and celebration with God's Passover Lamb? As an adult, Jesus returned to that same temple many times during His ministry. Oftentimes, those visits were not well received by the teachers of the Law. Maybe none were there or remember the questions of the boy Jesus. Robert C. Hudson June 26, 2025

Jacob Sets Up a Sacred Pillar

June 29, 2025 Background Scripture: Genesis 28:1 - 22; 33: 17 - 20; 35:1- 7 Lesson Passage: Genesis 28: 10 - 22 Have you ever asked, "Why am I doing this?" or "Why do we do this?" Some of our actions are so routine for us that we don't remember a time when such actions were not part of our behavior; and this is the way it should be until we reach a certain level of maturity. God-fearing parents are admonished by the word of God to, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." This behavior is observable even when we view the recorded history of the patriarchs. During the times of the patriarchs, it was common to commemorate a noteworthy event by erecting a memorial. They often used stones to build it. Abraham and Isaac had followed this familiar practice. In today's lesson, we see Jacob follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather—they were his role models. God blessed Isaac and Rebekah with twins, Esau and Jacob. They had very different personalities. The bible records that Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Although Esau was the firstborn, as they grew, Rebekah did things to give Jacob an economic advantage over his older brother. Eventually, Jacob and his mother, Rebekah, conspired to steal the blessing of Isaac that he intended for Esau, their firstborn son. The blessing was the covenant God made with Abraham that had been passed on to Isaac. After their conspiracy was completed and Esau learned of it, he vowed to kill Jacob after their father's death. Rebekah learned of Esau's plans and deceived her husband into sending Jacob away to live with her family in Syria. Today's Lesson Passage occurred during Jacob's journey from Beersheba to Padan Aram. Jacob stopped in Luz to rest overnight. God appeared to Jacob in a dream that night. God ratified the blessing Isaac was tricked into bestowing upon Jacob. God assured Jacob that He would be with him wherever he goes and bring him safely back to his father's house. This was Jacob's initial encounter with God. Although he likely saw his father's steadfast faith in the God of Abraham as he grew up, Jacob now had firsthand experience with God for himself. In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder that extended from earth to heaven with angels descending and ascending. The vision of the ladder from earth to heaven convinced him that this place was the gate of heaven. When Jacob awakened, he was in awe of the experience. Jacob believed he had arrived at the house of God inadvertently. Jacob took the stone he had placed at his head before he fell asleep and poured oil on it. This process of anointing the stone made it sacred to Jacob and it marked the place where he slept that night. Although the place was named Luz, Jacob declared that it would be named Bethel, which means "House of God". Furthermore, Jacob vowed to be a good steward of everything God blessed him with as God honored His pledge to him that night to protect and provide for him. Jacob vowed to express his stewardship by giving back to God a tenth of all God gives to him. His grandfather, Abraham, set this example by giving a tenth of his spoils of war to Melchizedek, the high priest of God. Biblical history records that Jacob's character did not change because of his new awareness of God. Jacob still showed questionable ethical behavior. What did change was Jacob's recognition of his personal relationship with God from that time forward. Like many of us, Jacob struggled between doing God's revealed will to him and doing what he wanted to do the way he wanted to do it. Despite that, Jacob continued to worship and acknowledge God by commemorating the places where he encountered God in a special way. In today's lesson, we see Jacob behaving as such when he set up a sacred pillar. Robert C. Hudson June 7, 2025

Isaac Calls on the Name of the Lord

June 22, 2025 Background Scripture: Genesis 26:1 - 33 Lesson Passage: Genesis 26:24 - 33 What should we do when people who were friendly towards us suddenly turn against us? How should we respond to people who don't want us around and yet they still want to be on good terms with us? Today's lesson provides some helpful insights for us by examining some recorded history about Isaac. Isaac has the least written about him in the lineage of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since the announcement of his birth prior to his mother conceiving him, Isaac has been a key link in the patriarchal lineage. Isaac preserved the faith tradition inherited from his father, Abraham, and passed it on to his son, Jacob. Like his father, Isaac built altars to worship God in the places that became his homestead. His servants also dug wells in those places to provide water for them and his flocks and herds. Some wells his servants dug again because the servants of Abraham dug them previously. However, after the death of Abraham, the Philistines had stopped them up. As stated in last week's lesson, Isaac was raised by his father, Abraham, to have a relationship with God and to know the proper way to worship Him. He had witnessed the relationship that his father had with God. As an adult with his own family, Isaac carried on the faith tradition he had learned from his father. That was important in the narrative for today's lesson. God had started interacting with Isaac and assuring him that the covenants He made with Abraham were renewed with him. God promised to protect, prosper, and provide guidance to Isaac. Not only did Isaac see God's hand in his life, but his neighbors had observed the same. Isaac became very wealthy, and his neighbors felt threatened by it. As a result, they became jealous and fearful of Isaac and asked him to leave their area. Isaac did not leave because he felt threatened. Isaac had a great number of servants who could defend him and his property if he had chosen to remain there. However, Isaac was a humble person who feared God and did not want to quarrel with others. Therefore, Isaac left the area and traveled to another location. He experienced similar hostilities in the new location. Isaac's travels continued until he arrived at another location. The Lord appeared to him the same night and assured him that he was with him. Wherever Isaac traveled, God was always with him and caused him to prosper. Isaac built an altar there and worshiped God as he had seen his father do. He also pitched his tent there and his servants dug a well. These activities suggest that Isaac saw this location as a place where finally he could treat it as a homestead. It was after these things that the king of the Philistines who sent Isaac away from his previous homestead came to him along with a friend and the commander of his army. Their visit was not expected since they made it clear that they did not want Isaac around them. Isaac inquired concerning their visit seeing that they had sent him away from them in hatred. They assured Isaac it was a mission of peace. They acknowledged they had seen that the Lord was blessing him. They were there to seek a peace agreement between them. Isaac made a feast for his visitors and entertained them overnight. (When the Lord is blessing you, you can treat those who hate you as honored guests.) The next morning, they swore an oath with one another, and Isaac sent them away in peace. After they departed, his servants came and told Isaac they had dug another well and found water. Isaac understood that it was the Lord continuing to bless him. He named that well to commemorate his experience like his father did in his lifetime. Isaac named it "the well of the oath", Beersheba. Robert C. Hudson June 5, 2025